Patrick Wayland '10

Lucky Bag

Obituary

Patrick Wayland was always the one everybody looked up to. As a high school athlete he was a leader, as a student, he was known as the hard worker and as a Marine, he was the one always willing to put everyone else's needs ahead of his own, friends said Monday. Wayland died over the weekend after suffering a cardiac incident during a training exercise in Florida. He was 24.

"He was really someone you could look up to and always trust," longtime friend Tyler Timmons said. "I was proud to say that he was a part of our military and serving our country. If we had an army full of Patricks we would never be in trouble."

Wayland was participating in remedial swim training at a pool in Pensacola, Fl. on Aug. 1 when he suffered "some sort of cardiac event" and stopped breathing, said Marine Corps spokesman 1st Lt. Brian Villiard. Wayland was pulled from the pool immediately and revived through CPR before being transported to a naval hospital. Once there, he was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. A lack of oxygen during the incident meant damage to his brain was severe. At 11:25 a.m. on Friday, doctors pronounced Wayland brain dead, Villiard said.

Wayland wished for his organs to be donated and was kept on life support until that could be accomplished. He was taken off of support and pronounced dead around 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, Villiard said.

"As a Marine, Patrick swore to serve and give his life to duty, and by donating his organs, he is able to fulfill his obligation to others," his family wrote on its "Caring Bridge" blog Friday. "He is surrounded by people who he has loved and who love him dearly." And while his family wrote the outcome isn't the one they and dozens of Midlanders had been praying for all week, they said they hoped people could see the good God was doing, even in Patrick's death. "I know we have a long and hard road in front of us, but carry Patrick in your heart, and take comfort in knowing that he is leading God's Army in heaven now," the blog reads.

Friends said knowing they'll get to see Wayland again some day is what's getting them through. "He passed as a Christian man that loved the Lord with all his heart and he served the Lord with all his heart," Timmons said.

Former football teammate and friend Clay Yenzer said Wayland was in his wedding last month and he's grateful their tight-knit group of friends got to be together so recently. "All of our friends looked up to him. He was just a man of a lot of courage and great character," Yenzer said. "He's going to be missed badly by all of us."

Wayland was a 2005 Midland High graduate. He attended Texas Tech University for one year before transferring to the Naval Academy, where he graduated in 2010, a spokesperson said.

Villiard said as a second lieutenant, Wayland was early on in his flight training. The water training he was completing was meant to prepare him should he ever be in a plane that went down in water. It was routine and assigned to those who needed the swimming course, Villiard said.

Wayland is survived by his parents, David and Carole Wayland, as well as his younger sisters, Meagan and Lisa. The family posted on its Caring Bridge site that it was overwhelmed by prayers and support from Midland. Coworkers and friends said they wanted to help the family in whatever way they could.

"It's a terrible tragedy," said Nancy Betts, development director at Safe Place of the Permian Basin, where Carole serves as executive director. "We've been praying for them daily. Like everyone else, we are just pretty much overwhelmed with grief."

News

One Marine's tragedy became another's lifeline this month as medical staff on opposite sides of the country worked quickly on an out-of-the-ordinary kidney donation.

The fast-paced transplant underscores the deep bond among service members and their families, according to friends and relatives. As Sgt. Jacob Chadwick prepared to leave the hospital Aug. 11, hundreds of police cars and motorcycles escorted 2nd Lt. Patrick Wayland's casket through his hometown of Midland, Texas, where thousands lined the streets waving American flags.

"Patrick took an oath to serve his country. Few people are able to do that," said Wayland's friend, 2nd Lt. John Silvestro. "Patrick, he would consider himself lucky to serve not only his country, but his fellow Marine."

Staff at UC San Diego Medical Center said they were surprised by the extra effort one family put in to help a stranger.

"I've been doing this for 20 years and have never seen anything like it," said David Lewino, a transplant coordinator. "That whole sense of Marine family — you hear about it, but when you see it firsthand, you really believe it."

By having a kidney designated to him, Chadwick was able to get off the waiting list.

In October, Chadwick had an appointment to get his kidneys checked after experiencing severe headaches and dizzy spells. But that was the day his daughter, Ella Marie, was born. Chadwick put off going to the doctor, trying to enjoy his time with Ella.

Chadwick, who said he had always been healthy, spent most of 2009 as an infantryman in Iraq with the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. By the time he saw a doctor in December, his kidneys were scarred. It was a sign of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, or kidney failure. He needed a transplant.

No one in his family had the right blood type, O, to save him. He signed up to receive a kidney from a cadaver, but the average wait time was five years. For 12 hours a week, Chadwick was on dialysis, tied to a machine that sucked out his blood, cleaned it and pumped it back into his veins.

He hated that machine, but it would take another Marine's tragedy to free him from it.

On Aug. 1, Wayland suffered cardiac arrest during a swimming exercise at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. The 24-year-old Marine, the one friends called Superman, would spend the next week in the hospital, his brain swelling. His family waited for a miracle. Doctors pronounced Wayland brain-dead Aug. 5.

"I know we have a long and hard road in front of us," his father, David Wayland, wrote in an online journal after he learned of his son's condition. "But carry Patrick in your heart, and take comfort in knowing that he is leading God's Army in Heaven now."

Wayland's mother went to another room to sign off on donating her son's organs, but she needed a witness. Lt. Jeff Moore, a Navy doctor, happened to be walking by. He agreed to help. That night, while Moore lay in bed, a thought popped into his head: What if Wayland's death could save another Marine?

He searched "Marine needs a kidney" on Google and found news stories about Chadwick. That was who should get the kidney, Moore thought. Wayland's parents agreed. The next morning Moore called the San Diego hospital where Chadwick was a patient.

"How do I make sure Jacob gets this Marine's kidney?'" he asked. At first the transplant representative thought it was a prank. It wasn't.

Hospital staff on both ends worked quickly to check whether the Marines were a match. Kidneys must be transplanted within 24 to 36 hours. A blood sample from Wayland was sent on a six-hour plane ride to San Diego for testing. Six more hours later, out came a positive result. The kidney left for San Diego that Sunday morning. It arrived at 1 p.m. Chadwick had surgery an hour later.

"It could have gone to anyone, but they found someone, a Marine, that needed a kidney. They searched for that. That definitely speaks of the bond Marines have," Chadwick said. "This is not how it usually happens. It was just meant to be."

Wayland's family and friends plan to meet Chadwick soon.

"I don't know if Jake is ready for the amount of love coming his way," Silvestro said.

Remembrances

He was really someone you could look up to and always trust. I was proud to say that he was a part of our military and serving our country. If we had an army full of Patricks we would never be in trouble.
Tyler Timmons

Class of 2010

Patrick is one of 2 members of the Class of 2010 on Virtual Memorial Hall.